Save five forsaken inmates in The Stone of Madness, a tactical RPG starring a cast characters each with their own abilities. Uncover the mystery behind the Stone of Madness, and what went wrong in this horrific monastery-turned-prison. Reveal clues to continue your investigation and, hopefully, flee with your lives and sanity intact. The cast includes a wretch of a man, a waif-like young woman, an elderly-looking grandmother, some kind of man clad in black, and a raven-haired woman with a bow in her hair.
This stone has roots in the real-life phenomenon of medical "professionals" hundreds of years ago trying to find and remove these stones from the minds of the mentally ill. The Stone of Madness takes artistic inspiration from renowned painter Francisco de Goya.
The style is isometric, reminiscent of Final Fantasy Tactics with a more mature theme. The Stone of Madness was announced to the public today at Gamescom 2020. Stealth is also an important mechanic, as not everyone appreciates your future fugitives snooping around. Each of the five playable characters has individual phobias and traumas, and these must be managed. Their sanity can deteriorate, creating a "Stone of Madness." This worsens their mental health and makes the game more difficult. Stones of Clarity, in contrast, can be found and used to help improve their mental states. Actions the characters perform can worsen their phobias or even trigger new conditions.
At the beginning of each game, the player can select an escape plan. Each plan has them discovering new places, acquiring tools, and unlocking new abilities. All of the plans have their own sets of requirements and difficulty. These different plans, coupled with the randomly-created monastery, makes each playthrough unique and adds a bit of a roguelike element. Avoiding "negative character progression" and managing the mental health of your would-be escapees creates a dynamic difficulty, letting players snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. This can also mean that a character cracks at the worst possible time, causing everything to collapse in a domino effect.
The Stone of Madness expects a Spring 2021 launch for the PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X. Be sure to check back with us at TechRaptor for future sanity loss and all of your The Stone of Madness news.
